Japanese Woodblock Print, 1936, published by Shoichiro Watanabe, this later edition from original blocks

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 15.5 x 10.5 inches

ISHINOMAKI, THE MAJOR CITY IN THE NORTHEASTERN REGION of Miyagi Prefecture, is a place of scenic beauty situated at the mouth of the Kitakami River, the largest river in the north of Japan.Under the rule of the Date clan in feudal times, it was known throughout the country as a focus of commerce and water transportation, and particularly as the largest rice shipping port in northern Japan. During the Meiji Period (1868 - 1912) the city flourished thanks to the very rich fishing grounds off nearby Kinkasan Island.

KAWASE HASUI (1883-1957) was a Japanese woodblock print maker in the early 20th century. He and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) are widely regarded as two of the greatest artists of the shin hanga style, and are known especially for their excellent landscape prints. During the forty years of his artistic career, Hasui worked closely with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), publisher and advocate of the shin hanga movement. His works became widely known in the West through American print dealer and Japanese woodblock connoisseur Robert O. Muller (1911-2003). In 1956, Hasui was named a Living National Treasure in Japan.

Hasui worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely meisho (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The prints of Hasui feature locale that are tranquil and obscure in the then-urbanizing Japan. The dreamlike quality in his designs epitomizes a yearning for the past and a preservation of the past in the midst of rapid modernization.

Fine, no flaws